A R Bhat
The armed conflict going on in Kashmir for such a long time have not only claimed thousands of lives but also has made the economy of state bleed. The ongoing conflict has certainly posed grave threats to the country’s security. This was in 1989 when the insurgency was actually born, as an indigenous movement against the corrupt administration and autocratic rule of Sheikh Abdullah. Nevertheless, New Delhi has made number of attempts to reach out to Pakistan and indeed to Kashmiris over the years, but except some very brief periods of hope and harmony, peace has actually not bested in the Kashmir Valley.
Living up to the precedent established by his own predecessors, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has likewise made an effort to reach out to Pakistan. For two years from his swearing-in ceremony in 2014, attempts were made by the PM to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict over Kashmir. All steps and actions have been being picked up by government to break the rage in Kashmir residents and carry all of them to the main stream India. The most recent step taken by the Govt of India is abrogation of Article 370.
After the abrogation of Article 370, state of Jammu-Kashmir undergone some very important constitutional changes. This has played an important role in bringing the Union territories of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh toward the mainstream of the nation. As a consequence, all the rights, privileges and restrictions in the Constitution of India and benefits of all the Central Laws which were applicable for the other residents of the country are now applicable to the people of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh.
Equality among all, one nation one law, everyone is equal n front of law. These are few of the principles of our constitution and abrogation n of Article 370 has rightly executed that in the valley. The minorities who had to face discrimination since a long time now can take breath in an environment that is conducive for their empowerment and progress of the state. If we have a look on the provisions of Article 370, we will observe that one of the biggest boons of Article 370 was certainly that the non-J&K locals couldn’t buy land in the state. So, those individuals, living in J&K have surplus of assets that they were actually not able to utilize efficiently. The most awful victims all the while in this equation were women, whose rights to their properties and their land in state would be taken away if they married a man outside the state. Contrary, there was no such restrictions on the Kashmiri men and they were completely free to marry anyone they want and as well enjoy their right to their land. Not only this , you would be surprised to know that any Indian citizen who is not a permanent citizen of the state of J&K was not allowed to vote as well as contest the legislative elections.
As state colleges in Jammu and Kashmir require a domicile certificate proving that the individual is a permanent citizen of J&K, the non-J&K citizens couldn’t get hold of admission in professional courses for post-graduation. In addition, the government was not providing any kind of entitlements, aid or scholarship to the citizens who were not in possession of a domicile certificate of the state. Also, in case of government jobs state of affairs was same, which has been fixed up now. Any laws, government schemes or policies introduced by the Parliament weren’t automatically made applicable to the state. As a result, backward communities and minorities in the state, including the SCs and STs weren’t given the advantages and benefits which the Indian Constitution otherwise gives them in the other states of the country. However. Now we can hope for a better and brighter future for both the citizens as well as the state.
At present time one of the major challenges for New Delhi is regaining the trust of the people of J&K. The way New Delhi revoked Article 370 has certainly made vast impact on Kashmiris of all persuasions, that includes the pro-India voices which have invariably stayed neutral in this conflict. Govt need to bring immediate actions to win their trust and alter their perspective concerning New Delhi. Further policy actions like the overhaul of the local management should certainly be taken as early as possible as corruption and nepotism have definitely remained the biggest problem and have created hurdles in the peace-building way in Kashmir time and again. Its high time that the Centre realizes that now is vital moment to restore India’s ties up with the region by instituting a series of important and genuine interlocution actions to prevail upon the trust of the alienated Kashmiris
